Lecture/tutorial rooms, well founded laboratories. Computers with internet access, to access for example IBMS (www.ibms.org/) and HPC (www.hpc-uk.org) websites.

The material will be taught over a 12 week teaching block and will comprise
24 hours of lecture/tutorial delivered at the university
16 hours of practical exercises delivered in appropriate hospital laboratories or within the University as deemed appropriate.


Independent study hours: 260

The module will introduce basic concepts and ideas which underpin biology and its application to biomedicine. Additionally, learning skills will be introduced at the appropriate stages throughout the module where their need is first met, and will be practised at that point. It will review the novel properties of water and how these influence living systems.
The structure and functions of the non-informational cellular macromolecules (carbohydrates, proteins and lipids) will be considered as will the structure of DNA and how this facilitates information flow between generations (DNA replication) and within cells via transcription and translation.

The module will describe cell structure, highlight the differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and outline the structure and functions of the major structural cellular components and organelles. The cell cycle and cell division (mitosis) will be described as will how sexual reproduction, fertilisation and meiosis are accommodated at the cellular level . This will lead to an exploration of the fundamental principles of inheritance (Mendelian genetics).

The module will introduce microbiology through an examination of the physical and chemical factors which influence bacterial growth, bacterial and viral classification and a consideration of viral structure, their replication and their cultivation.

Learning skills to be introduced will include effective reading and note taking, literature and web-searching, essay and practical writing, citing and referencing work, issues of plagiarism and simple data manipulation.

Practical and theoretical exercises will include manipulation of data from monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, the construction of a null hypothesis and statistical analysis using the chi square test,
X-linkage, visualisation of cells and structures by microscopy and staining. Aspects of bacterial growth will be investigated, for example by comparing growth under different physical, environmental and nutritional parameters.

Bradley, P. and Calvert, J. (2006). Catch up biology for the medical sciences. Scion

Reed, R., Holmes, D., Weyers, J. and Jones A (2007) Practical Skills in the Bimolecular Science. Pearsons

Two, one hour tests (1, 2)
A data analysis and handling exercise (7,8)
A 1000 word discursive account on some aspect of the curriculum, emphasising its biomedical significance. (5,6)
A folder of results and analysis of practical exercises (3, 4, 6)

All components will carry an equal weighting (20%)

Additional Assessment Details
Formative feedback will be provided in tutorials. Consistent with the student-centred learning approach of this module a text will be used which includes self test questions. The student-centred learning philosophy adopted for the subject-specific content of the module will allow sufficient tutorial time to focus on developing learning skills.